Using Biological Process to Destroy Lignocellulosic Structure for Energy Conversion

Abstract:

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Lignocellulose is one of the richest biological resources on earth. Yet, due to the robust structure, lignocelluloses are still not effectively utilized. This research adopted the fungi from the nature—Corilus versicolor—to culture and destroy the lignocellusic structure. The object of the research was banana stalks, a common Taiwan agricultural waste. The banana stalks were physically pretreated to banana wood flour before use. Through changes of the grains’ sizes of the banana wood flour, and proportions of the compounded carbons of the banana wood flour in the media, the optimal degradation activity was determined. The result showed that on the 12th day the 5mm grains used to replace the compounded carbons reached the maximal microbial activity, 70 times of a general medium. On the 14th day near 18% of celluloses were consumed by white-rot fungi. The result has contribution to lignocellulosic structure breakdown and a great step for energy conversion in subsequent stage.